


Queens and Titles

by sinistercollyflower



Series: The study of a family [2]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia (Movies), Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Archery, Banter, Family Dynamics, Gen, i'm only really adding the relationship tag here for future installments, no beta we die like Miraz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28751496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinistercollyflower/pseuds/sinistercollyflower
Summary: Continuing his exploration of the Pevensie family, Caspian learns a thing or two about Susan this time, and even develops a unique inside joke with her.Meanwhile, Edmund and Lucy compare notes.
Relationships: Caspian & Susan Pevensie, Caspian/Edmund Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie & Lucy Pevensie
Series: The study of a family [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095173
Comments: 3
Kudos: 58





	Queens and Titles

**Author's Note:**

> Listen I will have Caspian and Susan jokingly being aggressively courteous to one another or I will have death.
> 
> Time after time I put italics in my draft and then can't be assed to properly transfer them into AO3. whoever can tell me where at least 3 instances were supposed to be gets to prompt me in the comments lmao  
> ppl who have access to the google doc don't count, that's cheating!

The Pevensies are, Caspian thinks as he assesses how to approach the queen currently shooting bullseye after bullseye in rapid succession, a rather scary bunch, if one chooses to acknowledge it. Susan's movements are calm and measured, never missing a beat, and if it weren't for the speed at which she drew, then fired and the stern expression on her face, you'd think that nothing was amiss.

Edmund had told him to "charm" her, which is a curious choice of words, and which Caspian takes as instructions to placate her with compliments. This isn't such a tall task, given that the queen has no shortage of qualities for him to work with. The queen reaches for another arrow, and Caspian jumps into action, snatching an apple from a passing faun's basket with an apology, and calling out, "Your Majesty!" just as she knocks it and draws her bow. 

Queen Susan turns, bow still drawn, and Caspian wastes no time in tossing the apple high in the air. She takes aim immediately, all efficient grace and poise contained into one movement, and when she lets go, it's scant moments before a skewered apple hits the ground not far from where Caspian is standing. 

"Very impressive, your Majesty!" He exclaims with a clap before bending down to pick up the skewer embedded in the earth.

"Give it more of an arc next time, your Highness, and it might be a bit more challenging." He hears her retort, albeit much more gently than he expected. He looks up to find a smile bordering on a smirk directed at him, and smiles back. 

"Call me Caspian, and I'll keep that in mind," Caspian responds, pulling out his dagger and cutting into the apple as he approaches her, "although I'm curious, have you figured out a way to spar with a swordfighter? I'd imagine it to be fun practice." He offers her a slice of apple and she takes it while giving him a most assessing once-over. It's uncanny in its resemblance to her younger brother's soul-reading stare. 

"I'm a little miffed that Edmund got there before me," she says nonchalantly, "but I suppose we can be on a first name basis, if you insist." Her teeth flash in a smile as she bites into the apple slice, softening her words. 

Caspian seems to be unable to stop pushing his luck today because the next thing out of his mouth is "But not Su?" which he honestly has no explanation or excuse for.

The question, however, grants him the knowledge that Susan's laugh chimes like bells in a light breeze, and he can't be too mad about that. "Oh I'm sure you'll earn that too soon enough, Caspian." He grins back at her and after she accepts another slice of apple she points it at him. "As for sparing, I think I'll pit you against your friend Ed first before I let you try that." 

Caspian's eyebrows jump skyward, "Edmund?" he inquires, cutting a slice for himself and choosing to ignore the jab, "Forgive my asking but, why him?" 

Susan rolls her eyes, "Oh don't get me wrong, Peter really is one of the best swordsmen of our time, but Ed is the fastest. In addition to that he's a, shall I say, rather tricky opponent when it comes to any kind of confrontation." Caspian snorts. 

"Oh yes, I've already had a taste of that… and it wasn't even a confrontation!" Another chuckle from Susan reassures him to continue, "Well, then, I will trust your judgement as I trust your aim, my Queen. It should no doubt be interesting to cross blades with Edmund."

"Indeed it would," then, quietly, she adds, "if there's time enough," but before Caspian can inquire as to what she means, she continues, "unless you'd want to be the one with a bow?" 

Caspian snorts, then has to cover his mouth with the back of his hand. "Pardon my rudeness Susan," he says once he swallows the apple slice, "but I wouldn't know my way around a bow if my life depended on it. Us telmarines are more familiar with daggers and crossbows, in fact I can count the number of times I've held a bow on the fingers of one hand." 

Susan eyes his dagger with what he hopes is interest, so he cuts another slice and offers it to her again, "I take it you'd like a demonstration?" She nods and after handing over the apple slice, Caspian flips his dagger taking no time to aim, and embeds it in the center of one of the closer targets. 

The queen nods her approval, granting him a compliment of, "Good spatial awareness" and Caspian can't help a proud "Why thank you," which he will later excuse by the fact that getting praised by the best archer he's ever known of is no small feat, after all. He pulls himself together quickly and gets to pulling the apple apart and carefully removing the arrow from it's core, wondering if it was possible that she'd intentionally hit it just so. 

"Shall I retrieve your arrows for you, my lady?" He asks with a grin and a bow as he hands her both items. 

"Well it would be only courteous, my lord." Says Susan flatly, sporting a smirk of her own and giving him another one of those measuring looks. What had she meant, when she mentioned time, he wonders as he makes his way to the targets. He won’t push, but it seems like something that’s weighing on her, so he makes a mental note to ask either her or one of her siblings later. 

Once he’s back at her side with a stack of arrows in hand, she exchanges them for half of what remains of the apple. “Well my dear prince, I’d love to stay and chat, but there’s work to be done. I need to assess the archer’s ability so we can properly position them. On top of that we need to assess the state and volume of our weapons, see what we can do with our aerial attacks...” As she goes through the list Susan’s gaze gets lost somewhere in the middle distance, retreated into her own head and the no doubt numerous schematics she’s already assembling.

“Is there any way I can help?” Caspian asks, eager to be useful now that he’s no longer the highest ranking monarch among the Narnians. 

“I’d be thankful if you spread the word that Queen Susan requests that the archers assemble on the shooting range post-haste, please.”

Caspian takes a deep bow, declaring dramatically, “Your wish is my command, my Queen.”

Susan snorts inelegantly “Oh come off it.”

“Never.” he grins.

~

"There you are Lu!" 

Lucy looks up to find Edmund making his way to her spot in one of the clearings around the How. He seems a little worse for wear, probably from running around trying to keep on top of everything that goes into organising an army, like usual, so she resolves to take on at least some of his self-assigned duties as soon as possible. In lieu of a greeting she smiles and pats the spot beside her. Ed collapses in the soft grass with a grunt, and she immediately attaches herself to his side. 

"Rough day?" She asks.

Edmund chuckles, "Had to deal with Peter after a 'Pete&Su Spat', which you can imagine went swimmingly." as he says this, he drapes an arm around her shoulders and leans some of his weight on her, lying his head upon hers. Lucy bears it because he's not that heavy and because she's a good sister. 

"I can go talk to him if you'd like?" Her brother considers the offer, but ultimately shakes his head. 

"No, I think we're alright for now, he's cooled off a bit. And you don't have to worry about Su either, I sent Caspian off after her." Lucy's eyebrows shoot up. 

She leans away to take a proper look at her brother and he smirks down at her. "You sly dog!" She hisses, poking him in the ribs.

"Oi!" Ed squirms away but doesn't let go, "Listen, I'm just utilising all my assets here!"

"Oh yes, those two puppy eyes sure are valuable assets, not to mention that jawline of his." Lucy retorts flatly. 

Edmund blushes, "Well, maybe, if you look at it like that, but so is his pleasant demeanour, which is what I was counting on." Then, Edmund deflates. "Lu, I'm trying to help him out too. With Peter throwing tantrums and alienating him, Caspian's gonna need all the allies he can get. Plus, Susan can take care of herself, I'm not worried."

"Mhm, and she can take care of Caspian too, I'm sure."

"Lu!" This time, he really does push her away, hard enough that she falls backwards into the grass, giggling all the way. "Lucy Pevensie, you're a demon." Edmund tells her playfully, but she can detect traces of a pout on his lips, and isn't that interesting. 

She pulls on his elbow so that he loses his purchase and has to lay down beside her in the grass. "Are you doing okay, Ed?" She inquires once he's comfortable. Edmund gives her a long look as he considers her question. She's glad he takes her check-ups seriously. 

"I don't know yet." He says finally, "I probably won't until we're back, honestly. But I am having fun. And I am glad to be here, despite everything. I just wish we didn't have to deal with a disaster every time we came here. Alas, it is what it is I suppose. Better make the most of it." He tells the canopy.

Lucy wonders at her sibling's pessimism and their ways of coping with it. "Is that why you sent Caspian to talk to Susan? To distract her?" 

"So you noticed it too?"

"She told me. Almost word for word what you just said, except I had to drag it out of her." 

Edmund lets out a long sigh. "I think she's taking all this, being back here, the worst out of all of us. I'm pretty sure she's convinced we're never coming back after this. I don't want to believe her but, well, I have to consider the possibility." 

They both fall silent, contemplating Edmund's words and staring at the canopy together. Lucy knows that her brother needs to prepare for the worst, because he doesn't know if he'll be able to take it otherwise. She takes Ed's hand and he gives her a solemn smile. 

"Why were you looking for me anyway?" She attempts to distract him. Edmund gives her another smile, this time grateful. 

"Oh yes, I wanted you to talk to the healers. We need to see if Narnians still practise carrying first-aid kits, and if not, we need to make sure to implement it however much is possible at the moment." 

They both lean up on one elbow in order to look at one another properly. "Hmm, good thinking, but if they don't have them, there won't be enough time, nor supplies I imagine, to get kits for every soldier." 

"I know, I'm of a mind to attempt outfitting one in ten to fifteen soldiers with a kit, and having one healer per battalion. That should be enough to cover us, I'd say." 

Lucy gives this plan some thought, then nods decisively. "Alright, let's see what we can do." 

Once they're both up and ready to go, she takes Edmund's hand again. "Ed… However long we stay here, and whatever happens after, we've all got each other to lean on, right?" 

Edmund smiles that smile that melts all of his hard edges, and then she's enveloped in one of his good big brother hugs. "Of course we do, Lu, and thank you for reminding me of it."

**Author's Note:**

> My twt and Tumblr are both @enderham, feel free to hmu so we can ramble abt Narnia!


End file.
